TBM Rail August Newsletter

17 August 2017

TBM – August newsletter

Holiday season for many, but the railways never sleep. That means the TBM depot in Crewe has been as busy as ever. In addition to the ongoing projects and contracts, there have been some new arrivals – and we’re talking big stuff!

Bowser the Beast!

Overhauling transport fleet operators’ toilet systems and deep-cleaning the toilet pipes and tanks has been a vital task performed by TBM for rail companies up and down the UK for nearly a decade. Now, with the arrival of our 300 gallon capacity “Bowser” we can offer an even BIGGER and BETTER service. Really. The Bowser is a real beast of a unit. Coupled with some hi-tech cleaning kit that also rolled off wagons this month, we are now equipped to service any train toilets at ANY depot around the country.

One of the issues for operators and contractors is accessibility. Units parked up at rail depots often have full toilet tanks, meaning they cannot be removed for associated maintenance works. Transferring that unit to a depot with tank emptying facilities can be costly and time consuming. The answer: send in the TBM Bowser! We empty, clean, service and then safely dispose of the waste. Quickly. Efficiently. Job done.

So, if you are considering an overhaul of train toilets and their storage tanks, give us a call. You’ll be making sure that your toilet facilities are in great shape, working properly and available for passengers during the hot (and busy) summer months.

Grab pole refurbishment

As TBM’s partnership with coatings specialist Omnikote blossoms, it’s great to see work on our latest refurbishment project progressing well. In July our technicians began work on passenger grab poles, rails and handles for the Southern (GTR) fleet of Class 377 vehicles. The work involves sand-blasting the old polyester layers, before Omnikote’s outstanding Nylon R-AG powder-coating is applied.

The tough, long-lasting surface is perfect for high passenger traffic areas as it withstands all knocks, scuffs and even sprayed-on graffiti. It’s good stuff, and the investment in such coatings means that the next refurbishment won’t need to happen for many years. You enjoy long-term cost savings! It also looks stunning for the travelling public who get to use facilities that look as new.

The project with Southern will see nearly 700 carriages overhauled across a three-year period. The staggered nature of the work will mean that passenger vehicles are only out of traffic for a week each; that lessens the impact on service users and will hopefully be reflected in future NRPS scores.

Power to the people!

We’ve written about power sockets and USB charge slots before, particularly when Hull Trains commissioned us to install the handy, slimline power points in their first class carriages that carry travellers from the Humber region down to London. Well, we are delighted to announce that the award-winning operator has now teamed up with TBM once again to roll out the sockets to standard class, meaning that ALL passengers on their services will have access to much-needed “juice” to fuel their mobile phones, tablets and laptops.

TBM is doing similar work for TransPennine Express as we speak, so if you manage a fleet of older vehicles that could benefit from our rail industry approved fittings, please get in touch. Like other services offered by TBM, giving passengers improved services like this are always reflected in their feedback.

Preserving our rail heritage

Here’s one project we must give a mention. There’s a fabulous bunch of rail enthusiasts called The Southern Electric Traction Group based at Strawberry Hill (in London) who are working tirelessly to restore a 4VEP unit (Gordon Pettitt no. 3417, pictured) to its former glory. The “slam-door” trains ran from London to Bournemouth until 2005 when the fleet was withdrawn from action. As you can imagine, there’s been a bit of wear and tear over the years, and that’s where TBM and several other companies and organisations come in. We are helping to deep-clean and restore the seating before the unit is put back together ready for re-launch by the preservation team. We have already taken delivery of the battered old seating, so now it’s time to perform a little magic and get it all looking as good as possible.

That’s all for now.

If you’d like to chat to us about any of the above or have projects in mind for the coming months, please get in touch.